Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal, 1945
For five weeks in early 1945, Iwo Jima became the site of some of the most brutal fighting in World War II’s Pacific Theater. Located between the Mariana Islands and Japan, this tiny island was considered a key target by U.S. military planners. Capturing Iwo Jima would prevent the Japanese from using its airstrips to launch attacks against the American B-29 bombers flying missions to the Japanese home islands and would deliver a blow to Japan’s morale. Although just eight square miles, the island was fortified with 11 miles of tunnels, bunkers, and artillery.
On February 19, 70,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima, facing fierce resistance from 21,000 Japanese defenders. The Marines struggled to advance under heavy fire, using grenades and flamethrowers to dislodge Japanese forces from their fortified positions. After five weeks of savage close-quarters combat and 7,000 Marine deaths, the United States captured the island. Most of the Japanese defenders fought to the death—only 216 were taken prisoner, many while unconscious. The battle's intensity led Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz to remark, “Uncommon valor was a common virtue.” Twenty-seven Medals of Honor were awarded for actions during the battle, representing five percent of all such honors in the war.
Christopher Hamner, an associate professor of history at George Mason University, draws on primary sources from both the American and Japanese sides—veterans’ recollections, planning documents, after-action reports, and American newspaper coverage—to explore the famous struggle in more depth. He covers its strategic significance to the United States’ effort against Imperial Japan; its larger consequences to the Pacific War as the conflict entered its final, brutal phase in the spring of 1945; and its importance to Americans’ memories of the Second World War.
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